In the past, confidential data files were stored in floppy disks or were delivered via networks that require passwords or that use encryption coding for security. Confidential documents can be sent by adding safety seals and impressions during delivering. However, the aforesaid are exposed to the risks of breaking of the passwords, encryption codes, safety seals and impressions, thereby resulting in unsecure transfer of information.
More recently, there is an ongoing trend towards the use of miniaturized, portable computer peripheral devices to store confidential data. In certain cases, such peripheral devices have been reduced to “pocket size”, meaning that they can literally be carried in a user's pocket in the same manner as a wallet or set of keys. One example of particular interest, in which context the present invention will be described herein, is a “flash disk”, or “Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drive”.
The proliferation of portable computer peripheral devices, such as USB flash drives, has made the production of USB flash drives very cost sensitive. For example, there is currently a strong demand for high quality USB flash memory devices that are very low in cost. Such low-cost flash devices typically include a removable cap (cover) that is entirely removed from the USB device so that the USB connector plug can be connected to a USB port of a host system (e.g., a computer), and is re-attached to the USB device to protect the USB connector plug when the flash memory device is not in use. A problem with such conventional USB flash devices is that the removable cover can become inadvertently lost while the device is in use, thereby leaving the USB plug connector exposed to damage or contamination that can lead to failure of the flash device, with an associated loss of valuable data.
One solution to the problem of conventional flash devices having removable caps is the so-called pen-type package in which the USB plug connector is deployed and retracted from a housing a handle or slide mechanism exposed through a slot in the housing. Although typically more expensive to produce, pen-type USB flash memory devices can be shown to have a longer effective life by avoiding the damage/failure issues associated with conventional “capped” device packages by avoiding the removable cap that can be lost. However, a problem with conventional pen-type USB flash memory devices is that the handle mechanism used to deploy the USB plug connector may be inadvertently bumped during periods of non-use, whereby the USB plug connector may be partially deployed, thereby leaving the USB plug connector exposed to damage or contamination that can lead to failure of the flash device, with an associated loss of valuable data.
What is needed is a portable computer peripheral device that overcomes the problems associated with conventional structures. What is particularly needed is a high quality pen-type USB device that has a very low production cost and avoids the partial deployment issues described above.